An Awesome Morning at Beeding Bowl Saturday 2 July 2022.

This morning 8 club members, yes 8, were present on the slope with a wide variety of models. Today on the hill were Rob S (Chair), Tony C (Secretary), Scott T (Treasurer), George K, Robin S, Russell H, Martin J and Richard W. Beeding Bowl is located slightly north of our usual Mill Hill site and sits outside the Flight Restriction Zone (FRZ) and is a pleasure to fly from. The only disadvantage is the small car park, so arriving early usually guarantees a parking spot. The views this morning were absolutely stunning especially looking South West towards Lancing College.

I as usual took along my SAS Wildthing and met up with George K who had his newly acquired SAS Wildthing. Robin S attended with a SAS Wildthing but also had an Aztec which was out of the Alan Head stable, apparently this model was once owned by Alan and it was a pre-production glider that was not put into production, so it’s a true one of a kind. Rob S was armed with the Club trainer (also a SAS Wildthing) and his Alula which he inherited from Paul H. Russell H flew his traditional wing called a Tomahawk. The initial 10 seconds after hand launching are very interesting and needs some confidence and flying skills to get the model into the lift but once it’s up it’s a great flyer. Martin J by chance also had a SAS Wildthing. As did Scott T who also brought along his Me 163 Komet. Richard W also had a SAS Wildthing but also a Dream Flight Ahi and a Kulbutin that was fitted with a gyro. In all we had 7 SAS Wildthings available this morning for flying, unfortunately we did not get them all flying at the same time but maybe we will have another opportunity in the future. Rob S tried the Alula but found it very twitchy in the strong and blustery conditions, but was at least able to trim it ready for another less windy day.

Without doubt the highlight of the day was the air combat phase when Richard W flying his SAS Wildthing managed to knock out of the sky Scotty’s lovely red Me 163 Komet. The Komet went into a flat spin very much like the scene out of the Top Gun 1 film. Luckily no major damage was caused to either model. In summary, a good morning flying with all attendees gaining further experience and stick time but best of all was the great company of fellow club members with no significant damage to any models.